Oversize Load Wreck Closes Part Of Eastern Oklahoma Highway

One westbound lane of Highway 412 was closed due to an oversize load which rolled over Thursday morning.

The incident occurred about two miles east of Locust Grove at the Highway 82 exit in Mayes County.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said the truck was hauling an industrial heater from Express Metal Fab in Locust Grove. It weighed in excess of 100,000 pounds.

Marge Stanley was just about to pull out of her driveway in Locust Grove when she heard the crash.

"I heard this big blast and I looked, and there was so much dirt, you couldn't see what it was," Stanley said.

When the dust settled, she saw what caused the commotion.

"I thought, ‘What in the world?'" Stanley said.

OHP said the driver was not injured, but the mishap did cause a super-sized clean-up job. Highway 412 had to be closed briefly Thursday afternoon, while a crane came in to right the load. Traffic was diverted to county roads during the clean-up.

Troopers said the load shifted at about 8:15 a.m., basically causing the trailers to separate and leaving the industrial heating unit on the ground and the trailer on top of it.

"This is actually a unit that pumps steam into the ground and allows them to extract oil in Canada," said OHP Trooper, Dustin Thornton.

The heater unit was manufactured in Locust Grove, and the driver, out of Alberta, was headed back to Canada.

Dozens of oversized loads have been hauled safely without any problems, until now.

Troopers said the highway's asphalt was damaged in the accident and would have to be repaired by ODOT.

Marge Stanley is thankful the driver is okay and that she hadn't pulled out of her driveway any sooner.

"I was very lucky," Stanley said. "I was very appreciative, because it was horrible, I just couldn't believe it."